Why a professional website is better than a DIY

With so many DIY website programs on the market, a lot of people will tell you that you don’t need to pay for a professional website, you can just build it yourself. We are in the era of the do-it-yourselfer, with a big box hardware store on every corner and a YouTube video to give you-step-by step instructions! But when it comes to your website, I say not so fast. Yes, you can build it yourself using many different options and sometimes, they can look great.

But what happens when you…

need it updated

it breaks or disappears

it doesn’t get you the traffic you want

people aren’t responding to it well

While you can do it yourself with your website, there are some very good reasons why you shouldn’t.

Professional website designers…

…know how to attract the most traffic to your site.
We work in this world everyday. We know what works. We know what doesn’t work. Yes, you may love the flashy neon sign and music on websites, but we know that’s a mistake and you shouldn’t do it. And we’ll tell you that so you don’t make a mistake.

…know how to make a website that converts.
Having a web presence isn’t enough. You want people to fill out your forms, call you, hire you, or buy something, right? What’s the point of having a website that people come to and then leave? There is no point. A professional knows what needs to go where on a website to get the best results.

…know how to make things work.
Making a simple click and build website isn’t brain surgery. But what happens when you want your site to do more? Want a contact form? Want e-commerce? A blog? A slider? Each thing you add makes the site more complex, and takes you more time. Many of these things a professional can implement well and quickly.

…will tell when you are making bad decisions.
You may not agree with them, but a good developer will tell you when something you want is a bad idea, and they’ll tell you why. That kind of input is invaluable, and will be completely missed if you DIY.

…know how to organize your content to be most effective.
Here’s the truth that you aren’t going to find out if you DIY. People come to your website for the content. Yes, we want it to look good and work, but if people can’t find the information they want, they are going to leave. It doesn’t matter how fancy your site is. It doesn’t matter how pretty it looks. It doesn’t matter if you used the latest technology. What matters is that people can find what they came for. A professional knows how to organize your content so people can find what they want.

…know how to secure your site to prevent it being hacked.
Sadly, hackers are everywhere and they want to break your site. Every site we do is secured when we are done to prevent the likelihood of this happening!

Doing your website yourself may not be saving you money.

How so? A professional can likely make your website faster than you can. You may spend hours and hours working on it, and you’ll be proud of what you’ve done. But think about this – how many of those hours could you have been using to do what you do best? If you spend 20 hours working on your website, that’s 20 hours you weren’t working on your actual profession. If you charge $100 an hour for services, that’s $2,000 of lost revenue because you didn’t want to a pay a professional website developer to work on your site. For the same cost, you likely could have hired a professional to do your website with a better end result and less headaches for you.